Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

“I have tested positive for COVID-19. Under medical advice I have isolated myself at home and taking all precautions. I have mild symptoms. Please keep me in your kind prayers,” Mirza tweeted.

The SAPM, who also has been at the forefront of the government’s response to the pandemic, urged his colleagues to continue the fight against the virus.

Mirza joins a long list of Pakistani lawmakers who have tested positive for the virus.

Last week Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced he had tested positive for coronavirus and has gone into self-isolation.

The foreign minister, in a tweet, said: “This afternoon I felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined myself at home. I have now tested positive for COVID- 19.”

“By the grace of Allah, I feel strong and energetic. I will continue to carry on my duties from home. Please keep me in your prayers,” he added.

Two weeks earlier, Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications Syed Aminul Haq tested positive for coronavirus.

A week prior to that PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said she has tested positive.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, PTI MNA Jai Prakash, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister of State for Narcotics Shehryar Afridi and PTI’s chief whip in the National Assembly Aamir Dogar have also been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Previously, many politicians including PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, ANP’s Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Sindh education minister Saeed Ghani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, and Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari had tested positive for coronavirus, after which they went into self-isolation and recovered.

PTI Punjab Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Shaheen Raza was the first lawmaker in the country to succumb to the virus.

PTI MPA Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel from Nowshera and PML-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema from Gujranwala also passed away last month after being on the ventilator for a few days.

Source: Geo News